Sick Day
by Poke-Melody
Summary: Mercedes comes down with the flu. The Blue Lion's decide it is time to give back to the squad mom. (Slight Sylvain/Mercedes but mostly Blue Lion as family fluff)


Mercedes was late to class. For as long as Annette had known Mercedes she was never late to anything. Ever. So she was a little worried about her friend when twenty minutes of class passed by and there was no sign of her. It was at the thirty minute mark that she had finally come in, a little disheveled and a handkerchief held over her nose and mouth.

"I'm so sorry I'm late, Professor. I overslept." Mercedes apologized profusely as she walked to her seat next to Annette.

"It's okay, Mercedes." Byleth had said from the front of the classroom. "But oversleeping isn't like you, are you feeling alright?"

"Oh, yes." Mercedes waved her hand dismissively. "I've had a bad cough since yesterday and it just kept me up is all."

As if on cue, she had a small coughing fit and had brought her handkerchief back to her mouth.

"Well, if you say so..." Byleth trailed off, before going back to her lecture.

It had been another twenty minutes into the lecture when a cry from Annette caused Byleth to turn away from the chalkboard.

"Merci!" Annette cried when Mercedes had suddenly slumped over in her seat, head hitting the desk, before falling out of her chair.

Byleth had dropped the chalk and ran over to the table that Annette and Mercedes were seated at.

"What happened?" she asked, kneeling down to where Mercedes had fallen.

"I-I don't know." Annette stuttered. "Her breathing started to sound kinda funny and before I knew she just collapsed."

Byleth brought her hand to Mercedes forehead and frowned.

"It feels like she's running a fever. We should get her down to the infirmary."

"Professor..." Mercedes had said, waking up. "Don't trouble yourself, I can get their by myself."

"But Merci..." Annette trailed off.

"I'm fine, Annie. I think I've just caught a small cold is all."

"You're not going to the infirmary all by yourself, Mercedes. I don't want you collapsing again with no one around to help." Byleth had said, helping her stand up.

Once standing Mercedes seemed to be off balance a bit and kept stumping.

"I can take her!" Annette had offered. "I can even stay with her in the infirmary until Professor Manuela gets there."

Byleth stayed silent for a moment, she was okay with taking Mercedes herself, but that would leave the rest of the class unsupervised.

"Alright, you can take her and you can stay with her. I'll have one of your classmates take notes for you and Mercedes and bring your work over."

"Thank you, Professor." Annette smiled, leading Mercedes out of the room.

"Felix, would you mind running to find Manuella and explain the situation to her?"

Felix let out a heavy sigh before standing up.

"Sure." was all he said before heading out before Annette and Mercedes.

"Come right back once you find and tell her!" Byleth called out to him.

"I'm sorry about all this trouble, Professor." Mercedes said. "If I was able I'd handle it myself."

"Don't be, Mercedes. Everyone gets sick, so just focus on getting better."

"Alright, thank you everyone." Mercedes smiled before leaving with Annette.

Once the two were gone and Byleth had closed the classroom doors, she turned to Ingrid.

"Ingrid, could I ask you to copy your notes for Annette and Mercedes?"

"Of course Professor." said Ingrid, taking out a few extra sheets of paper.

With that, Byleth had continued with her lecture, making sure to slow down so Ingrid could keep up with taking extra notes.

After around ten minutes of sitting in the Infirmary, Manuella had finally arrived.

"Sorry for the wait, girls. I just had to set up a quick assignment for my class while I'm here." she said, moving to her desk.

"On no, Professor Manuella. I'm the one that should be sorry." Mercedes apologize. "It's my fault you were taken away from your duties."

"Nonsense," Manuella waved dismissively. "It's my job to take care of you students. Now, let me take a look."

It had only taken a few minutes of an examination to diagnose Mercedes.

"Well dear, it seems like you've come down with the flu. It seems like everyone in the monastery is coming down with it these days. A few days of rest and some medicine and you'll be back to your old self in no time." Manuella smiled.

"That's a relief." Annette had said.

"Now, I suggest you resting in here at least for a bit. I would like to make sure that you didn't hit your head to hard when you collapsed. Annette dear, you can head back to class, your friend is in good hands."

"Alright." Annette said, standing up. "Merci, I'm on weeding duty today, so I'll see if someone else can drop off the classwork from today for you."

"Thank you, Annie. Thank you for helping me get here."

"It's no problem." Annette smiled. "Just be sure to get better, okay?"

"Right." Mercedes nodded.

Annette nodded back before leaving and making her way back to class.

Manuella made Mercedes stay in the infirmary for most of the day. Just to make sure that bump on her head was nothing more than a bump. When she finally deemed Mercedes safe enough to be by herself, she walked her to her dorm.

"Don't hesitate to come and get me if you need me, alright?" Manuella asked.

"Of course." Mercedes smiled. "Thank you very much, Professor Manuella."

"Anytime dear, anytime." she said before heading off.

Mercedes closed her door behind her before letting out a shuddering breath. In truth, she was feeling a lot worse than how she explained. Her head was killing her, her nose wouldn't stop running, and her entire body ached. Normally she would just brush off everyone's concern but today she just felt so bad that she is going to take their advice and take it easy for the next few days.

Mercedes pulled the ribbon out of her hair, letting her hair fall down naturally. With it not being in the low ponytail, she could feel some of the pressure in her head go away. She decided to change into her night clothes before heading to bed to sleep this flu off.

Mercedes didn't know how long she had been asleep when she woke up to a knocking at her door. She slowly got out of bed to answer it. She opened the door to see Sylvain facing away from the door.

"Sylvain?"

"Oh! Mercedes, I just wanted... to... bring..." Sylvain trailed off as he turned around to see Mercedes standing in the doorway. A small blush forming on his cheeks.

"Sylvain, are you alright?" Mercedes asked.

"Huh? Oh. Yeah, I'm alright. In fact I'm doing great." he grinned. "I've just never seen you with your hair down. You look beautiful."

Mercedes chuckled.

"I'm sure you say that to all the sick girls you talk to." she smirked.

"Wha-? No, of course not. Hell, if you weren't for you needing rest and being... contagious... I would offer to eat dinner in your room with you tonight."

It was at this moment that Mercedes noticed how far away Sylvain was standing.

"Sylvain, are you afraid of germs?" Mercedes asked.

"What? Me? Afraid of germs? N-no way..." Sylvain said, waving his hands nervously in the air, avoiding eye contact causing Mercedes to chuckle.

"Regardless, was their something you needed?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, right!" Sylvain's eyes widened in remembrance, before starting to dig around his bag. "Since Annette and Ingrid had weeding duty today, they asked me to deliver your classwork and notes."

He finally pulled out a few sheets of paper and handed them over to Mercedes, who still could see the distance he was standing away from.

"Thank you very much, Sylvain." she smiled. "I owe you one."

Sylvain blushed again at the kind smile Mercedes had given him.

"W-Well, it was Ingrid and Annette who had taken the notes and stuff. I was just the delivery boy." he said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Either way, I still owe you one. Given how anxious you are about me being sick, it means a lot that you come over here."

"Well," Sylvain smirked, regaining his composure. "How about when you're all better, I take you out to eat?"

"Hmm." Mercedes tapped her chin in pretend thought. "I might take you up on that offer."

"Awesome!" Sylvain smiled. "Well, I'll let you get back to resting. See you in class."

"Yes. I'll see you later Sylvain." Mercedes waved to Sylvain's retreating figure.

Mercedes closed her door again and set the work and notes on her desk. She'd get to it later, when she was feeling better. She'd walked back to her bed, standing and talking to Sylvain really wore it out of her and she fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

Another knock woke Mercedes up. She looked over to the clock in her room, it seemed like only a half hour had passed since she spoke with Sylvain. She slowly stood out of her bed and made her way to the door. When she opened it, she saw Ingrid standing on the other side, with a pile of books in her hands.

"Mercedes, hello. How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Oh, Ingrid. I'm feeling a bit better than I was this morning, thank you for asking." she smiled. "Can I help you with something?"

"No actually, I came to help you. May I?" she asked, gesturing toward her room.

"Of course, come on in." Mercedes moved out of the way to let Ingrid in.

"It's just, I know how boring it could be stuck in your room all day, and I know that even when your sick you can only sleep so much. So I thought I'd lend you some of my books to keep you entertained."

"Oh, Ingrid. Thank you. Here, you can set those on the desk." she said moving some things aside to give Ingrid's books some room.

"It's no problem. I see Sylvain dropped of the notes." she said, catching a glimpse of the pile of paper Sylvain had given her earlier. "He's always been a bit of a germaphobe so I was worried that he wouldn't give them to you."

"Yes, he stopped by not too long ago, actually. Thank you again for taking extra notes for me. I don't feel as stressed as I usually would be with having those with me."

"Don't worry about it. Annette was the one to take most of those, she wasn't gone with you for long. Well, I don't want to keep you, you probably need more rest, so I'll see you later." Ingrid waved before heading out.

"Yes, and thank you very much for the books." Mercedes said, before closing the door.

Once the door was closed, she headed back to bed, this time with one of Ingrid's books in her hand. She had been sleeping for most of the day, if she slept any more she might not be able to fall asleep later that night. So she thought reading a little bit wouldn't hurt.

She was only a few chapters into the book when someone knocked on her door again. She gently set the book down and walked back toward the door.

"Good afternoon, Mercedes." it was Dedue. Mercedes noticed him holding a cup of what was most likely tea in his hands.

"Hello, Dedue. What brings you here?" she asked.

He handed her the tea cup.

"This is a special tea we would have in Duscar, it is supposed to help ease the throat and clear the sinuses. Granted, you don't have that specific tea here in Fodlan but I found a close replacement. I tried a bit before I made you a cup and it does taste like the tea I'd have in Duscar. I also added a bit of honey because it can be a tad bitter."

"Oh thank you so much, Dedue. This smells so calming. I can already feel my head clearing up just smelling it."

"I am glad. His Highness needs my assistance, so I will be on my way." Dedue bowed before leaving.

Mercedes smiled again before closing the door. Though his visit was brief, it meant a lot to Mercedes. She walked back to her bed, gently sipping the tea. It was very good. She'd have to ask Dedue what kind of tea he used for this later. It would go great with some of her sweets.

Mercedes had fallen back asleep after finishing Dedue's tea. She must have been asleep for a while, because the next time she woke up to knocking, it was dark outside.

This time the person knocking was Ashe.

"Good evening, Mercedes," said Ashe. "I figured you wouldn't be feeling well enough to come to the dinning hall tonight, so I decided to bring you some soup my mother would make for me whenever I was sick."

"Oh, Ashe. You're so sweet." Mercedes smiled. "Thank you so very much. Hmm, it smells delicious."

"You're welcome, Mercedes." Ashe said, handing her the bowl. "I would really like to stay and keep you company, but the Professor asked for my help with something."

"That's okay, Ashe. A lot of people have been visiting me today, so I haven't been very lonely." she smiled.

"Well, that's good." said Ashe. "Anyway, feel better, Mercedes."

Mercedes watched as he jogged off. Ashe was such a good kid, it warmed her heart to see him always working so hard for others.

The soup tasted amazing. Mercedes was honestly starting to feel better already.

It was around the time that Mercedes finished eating that there was another knock at her door. She stood up from her desk and made her way back over to the door. She was honestly surprised to see Felix on the other side.

"Oh Felix, good evening." she said.

"Good evening, here." was all he said as he held out a small glass bottle. "Manuella asked me to bring it over. It's to help you sleep tonight."

"Oh, thank you, Felix. This'll be very helpful." she smiled, taking the medicine from his hand.

There was an awkward silence before Felix spoke up again.

"You're looking better than you did this morning." he said.

"Yes, I guess a little bit of rest was all I needed. I should be back to class in a few days." she said.

"That's good," Felix fidgeted a little bit. "Well, I'll leave you be, good night, Mercedes."

"Good night to you too, Felix." Mercedes said. But just before she started to close the door, he began to talk again.

"Oh, and by the way. I thought it over," he scratched behind his head, avoiding eye contact. "you can think of me as your little brother if you want."

Before she could answer, he was gone. Not really running off, but definitely too fast to be considered walking.

She smiled to herself before closing the door to read the instructions on the medicine.

"Mercedes, are you awake?" came a voice. Mercedes recognized it to be Dimitri's.

"Hello, Dimitri." she said, answering the door again.

"I didn't wake you, did I?" Dimitri asked.

"No, I've been asleep for most of the day so I'm not really tired right now. I was just reviewing the notes Ingrid and Annie took for me is all." she smiled.

"Oh, okay. Well, the Professor wanted me to deliver a message over to you. She wanted me to tell you that you don't need to worry about missing the next few days of class. We're going to be focusing mainly on bow training, so you don't need to worry about any missed lectures."

"Oh, thank you, Dimitri. Is that all?"

"No, actually. I just wanted to check and see if you were doing alright. You're always taking care of everyone in class, and I just wanted to make sure you were doing the same for yourself."

"I am Dimitri, thank you. You and everyone else in class have been so kind and patient with me today, I really appreciate it."

"Oh, the others have been by?"

"Yes, first it was Sylvain to drop off my notes, then it was Ingrid who came by to give me some books to keep me busy. A little after that Dedue came by with some tea and Ashe came buy around dinner to bring me some soup. Then Felix came by with some medicine Professor Manuella asked him to bring over."

"I'm glad to hear that. Well, I'll leave you be, Mercedes. I hope you feel better soon. Goodnight to you, Mercedes."

"You too, Your Highness." Mercedes waived before closing the door once again.

Mercedes went back to studying her notes when there was another knock at her door just a few minutes later.

"Hey, Merci. It's me, can I come in?" came Annette's voice.

"Of course. Come on in, Annie." she said, putting her notes down.

Annette came in holding a small box.

"Hi Merci, how are you feeling?" she asked as she walked over.

"So much better than I was this morning. Thank you again for helping me get to the infirmary and taking notes for me."

"It was no problem at all!" Annette smiled. "Anyway, I just wanted to stop by to lend you this."  
Annette held out the small box for her.

"What is it?" Mercedes asked, taking the box out of her hands.

"It's my music box. Sometimes when I get sick, I just like to listen to it and it helps me relax. I would have come with it earlier, but I had to go digging around in my room for it."

"Oh, thank you so much, Annie." Mercedes smiled. "This definitely will help me sleep tonight."

"You're welcome, Merci. Oh and I knew everybody else had been by but I wanted to give you a heads up that the Professor really wanted to come by and check on you but she didn't have the time. She spent the day changing the week's schedule so you wouldn't worry about missing anything."

"Oh, how sweet of her." Mercedes chuckled. "When you get the chance, please let her know that I greatly appreciate it."

"Of course. Well, it's starting to get late. I should head back to my room before it gets too late. I don't want to be one of the victims of that creepy knight of death rumor that's been going around." Annette smiled, embarrassed.

"Of course, talk to you later, Annie." Mercedes smiled walking her out the door.

"Yup, feel better soon, Merci!" Annette said before running off to her room.

Mercedes closed her door for the final time that night and took a look around her room. She looked over at the notes that Sylvain came to deliver despite his germ fear, the books Ingrid had gone out of her way to grab and bring over, the tea and soup Dedue and Ashe had made for her, the medicine that Felix brought over and the music box that was still in her hands.

When she was feeling better, Mercedes knew she had to make it up to her class.

About five days later, when Mercedes was positive she was better and no longer contagious, she took it upon herself to make a bunch of cookies as a way to say thank you to her class.

It made her so happy to see her classmates eating them as happily as they were.  
She couldn't help but think how lucky she was to be placed in a house with such kind classmates.

Omake:

Back when Manuella was first walking Mercedes back to her room they had actually run into Hilda who had heard that Mercedes was sick.

"Hey, Mercedes... I'm sorry to hear that your sick."

"Oh it's nothing too bad," Mercedes said, coughing into her handkerchief. "It's just the flu, I'll be back in a matter of days."

"The flu, huh? Hey, do me a favor and cough on me."

"I'm sorry?" Mercedes asked, confused.

"It doesn't need to be a cough, you can sneeze too." Hilda said, getting closer to Mercedes. "Come on, at least breath on me."

"Hilda, what are you doing?" Mercedes asked, gently pushing Hilda away. "I don't want you to get sick."

"Well I do!" Hilda yelled. "I've got a presentation to do tomorrow, and Hanneman will probably let me wait a few days if I get sick."

"Nice try, Hilda. But no one else is getting sick on my watch." Manuella chuckled. "Now I'd start rehearsing that presentation if I were you."

"Ugh, fine." Hilda sighed before walking slowly back to her room.

In the end, Hilda did get sick, but it wasn't until the day after she failed her presentation.


End file.
